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open access

Cardiovascular Fetal Programming in Quail (Colinus virginianus), An Avian Comparative Model

Description: The consequences of early embryonic insults and how they affect subsequent life reflects the emerging concept of "fetal programming". The aim of this project is to study the effects of embryonic insults as they subsequently manifest themselves in adults, with emphasis on the heart and vasculature. My experiments establish that fetal programming operates on the bobwhite quail inducing similar changes as those observed in mammalians and other birds. The quail's fast development provides reliable … more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Flores Santin, Josele R.
open access

Ecotoxicological Investigations in Effluent-Dominated Stream Mesocosms

Description: The University of North Texas Stream Research Facility (UNTSRF) was designed to examine contaminant impacts on effluent-dominated stream ecosystems. Stream mesocosms, fed municipal effluent from the City of Denton, TX, Pecan Creek Water Reclamation Plant (PCWRP), were treated with 0, 15 or 140 µg/L cadmium for a 10-day study in August 2000. Laboratory toxicity test and stream macroinvertebrate responses indicated that cadmium bioavailability was reduced by constituents of effluent-dominated str… more
Date: December 2002
Creator: Brooks, Bryan W.
open access

A Floristic Study of the Woody Vegetation of the North American Cross Timbers

Description: This research represents the first systematic collection of the woody plants throughout the Cross Timbers. It provides the first keys to these plants in their vegetative condition, plant descriptions, distribution maps, and some quantitative measurements used for descriptive purposes. Descriptions of the woody plants were constructed as an aid in verification after a specimen has been identified by use of the keys. The measurements given pertain only to the woody plants as they occur in the Cro… more
Date: December 1974
Creator: Harrison, Thieron Pike
open access

Impact of a Genetically Engineered Probiotic Therapy and IGF-1 Genomics in the PAHenu2 Mouse Model of PKU

Description: Absence of functional phenylalanine hydroxylase results in phenylketonuria (PKU). Viable treatments remain few, expensive and secondary conditions such as osteopenia occur in most PKU patients. Objective 1: Given the recently described roles of gut microbes to aid host digestion, an orally administered genetically engineered probiotic as the delivery vehicle for enzyme replacement therapy was created. The engineered probiotic, pHENOMMenal, produced phenylalanine ammonia lyase with significant… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Durrer, Katherine Elaine
open access

The Impact of Developmental Stress on Cardiovascular Physiology of Two Archosaur Species: American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and Domestic Chicken (Gallus gallus)

Description: Crocodilians and birds comprise sister taxa of archosaurs, the development of these vertebrates occurs within an egg case that leaves developing embryos susceptible to fluctuations in the nesting environment. Studies suggest that sub-optimal conditions alter morphological growth and cardiovascular physiology. Regulation of the cardiovascular system is immature in the subjects studied, and embryos may rely on humoral rather than neural control of the cardiovascular system. The primary focus of t… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Tate, Kevin B.
open access

Investigating the Ability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pyrE Mutants to Grow and Produce Virulence Factors

Description: Pseudomonas aeruginosa are medically important bacteria that are notorious for causing nosocomial infections. To gain more knowledge into understanding how this organism operates, it was decided to explore the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. Pyrimidine synthesis, being one half of the DNA structure, makes it a very important pathway to the organism’s survivability. With previous studies being done on various genes in the pathway, pyrE has not been studied to the fullest extent. To study the fu… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Niazy, Abdurahman
open access

Investigations of neuronal network responses to electrical stimulation in murine spinal cultures.

Description: Spontaneous activity in neuronal networks in vitro is common and has been well documented. However, alteration of spontaneous activity in such networks via conditioning electrical stimulation has received much less experimental attention. Two different patterns of electrical stimulation were used to enhance or depress the level of spontaneous activity in spinal cord cultures. High-frequency stimulation (HFS), a method routinely shown to increase the efficacy of synaptic transmission, was employ… more
Date: December 2001
Creator: Sparks, Christopher A.
open access

Landscape Ecological Characteristics of Habitat of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Description: Geographic information systems (GIS) technology was used to analyze factors influencing habitat use by an endangered species, the red-cockaded woodpecker. The study area was the western part of the Raven Ranger District of the Sam Houston National Forest, Texas. The factors considered included both structural characteristics and spatial relationships among stands of trees in the habitat.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Thomlinson, John Richard
open access

Light Spectra Distributions in Temperate Conifer-Forest Canopy Gaps, Oregon and in Tropical Cloud-Forest Canopy, Venezuela

Description: Light spectra distributions were measured in two different montane forests: temperate and tropical. Spectral light measurements were made in different sized canopy gaps in the conifer forest at H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon, USA. Researchers at Oregon State University created these gaps of 20 m, 30 m, and 50 m in diameter. In the tropical cloud forest, spectral light measurements were made in two plots that were permanently established at La Mucuy Parque Nacional in Venezuela, in … more
Date: December 1997
Creator: Monteleone, Susan Elaine
open access

Remote Sensing of Landscape-Level Ecological Attributes at Ray Roberts Lake in North Texas

Description: Biological diversity is a key component in assessing ecosystem health. Alteration, degradation and loss of habitat due to human influence is currently the primary stressor resulting in decreases in diversity. Reliable assessment of large areas in terms of biological integrity are needed for conservation and preservation efforts. Remotely sensed data provide an integrated view of reflected electromagnetic energy over large areas of the earth. These energy patterns provide unique spectral signatu… more
Date: December 1997
Creator: Smith, David P. (David Paul), 1956-
open access

Spatially Explicit Modeling of West Nile Virus Risk Using Environmental Data

Description: West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging infectious disease that has widespread implications for public health practitioners across the world. Within a few years of its arrival in the United States the virus had spread across the North American continent. This research focuses on the development of a spatially explicit GIS-based predictive epidemiological model based on suitable environmental factors. We examined eleven commonly mapped environmental factors using both ordinary least squares regress… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Kala, Abhishek K.
open access

Toxicological Evaluation for the Ocular Administration of Tolrestat: An Aldose Reductase Inhibitor for the Treatment of Diabetes

Description: Aldose reductase inhibitors (ARI's) have been shown to attenuate or prevent several complications of diabetes in animals. Tolrestat is a potent and unique ARI from Ayerst Laboratories, New York, NY. The efficacy and toxicology of tolrestat via topical ocular administration was examined. Tolrestat effectively enhanced corneal reepithelialization and was efficacious in the prevention of cataracts in the streptozotocin-diabetic rat. Ocular tissues were examined by slit lamp biomicroscopy, scanning… more
Date: December 1987
Creator: Carney, Gerald R.
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